Hopper car door



E. H. HOLMES 1,811,848

HOPPER CAR DooR Fild Dec. 11.V 1930 s sheets-sheet 1 June 30, 1931.

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HOPPER CAR DOOR Filed Dec. ll, 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 WIT ESSES INVENTOR MM cfm/J /w MM W 17 @www d //m /mmv June 3o, 1931. E. H. HOLMES 1,811,848

-HOPPER CAR DOOR Filed Dec. 11. 1950 8 sheets-sheet 3 @0W/bd MM/88M WIyZZm/"g j; 3]/ 3j @/fmww June 30, 1931.

Ef H. HOLMES HOPPER CAR DOOR Filed Dec. 1l, 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 fi Il Il l-I `INVENTOR WITNESSES 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 O E. H. HOLMES HOPPER CAR D-OOR Filed Dec. 11, 1930 "nuff-22T-"mmm-" {fi :Ill- 1:25 .I::IIiIlIZZTIZZZlIlL-:I

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E. H. HOLMES HOPPER CAR DOOR June 30,- 1931.

8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Dec. ll. 1930 INVENTOR 0MM/4a /Mw @Mm r/haw WITNESSES E. H. HOLMES HOPPER CAR DOOR June 30, 1931.

Filed Dec. l1. 1930 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 WITNESSES `lll|llllllllalllllnlll| .I-Illll'llllllllllllnllllll.' l l l l I I l I l I I l I l l 1 I I I I I l l l l I l I l l l Ill M M R 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 E. H. HOLMES HoPPER CAR DooR Filed Deo. 1l, 1930 `Tune 30, 1931.

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Patented June 30,- 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFICE EDWARD HILL HOLMES, OF MCKEES ROCKS, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO FORT' PITT MALLEABLE IRON COMPANY, F MCKEES ROCKS, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA HOHER CAR DOR Application led December 11, 1930. Serial No. 501,531.

My invention relates generally to railway cars and particularly to cooperating door and frame structures for hopper cars.

Heretofore the frames and `doors for hopper cars have ordinarily been made from fiat plates and structural shapes bent and secured by rivets or other means to constitute the desired structure. Such fabricated doors and frames are relatively expensive to make and are susceptible to being bent out of shape when subjected to the rough handling that hopper cars ordinarily receive in service.

, In an attempt to overcome the objectionable features of the fabricated hopper doors and door frames it has been proposed to cast the door frame and the door each as an integral piece of metal. If the integrall castn ings are made with light sections, it is difficult to obtain pieces which are free from defects, and diiiiculty is experienced in that the doors and frames warp, when the castings cool, to such extent that a tight itcannot be obtained betweenthem. The result is that loss of lading may occur through cracks between the cooperating edges of the door and thc frame. If, on the other hand, the doors and frames are made suiiiciently heavy to insure good castings, they may be of such .thickness and weight as to be impractical in operation.

It is, therefore, the general object of my invention to provide a door frame and a cooperating door for hopper cars that will tit accurately together, that are rugged and readily manipulated in service, and that are economical to manufacture.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cast door frame and cooperating door each of which -is made in two parts, which parts are fitted together in such manner that the door and frame will accurately cooperate, and to provide means for repairing the door or frame in the event of accidental injury, by replacing the injured portion of either member.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of making doors and door frames for hopper cars whereby the parts are each cast in two pieces which are fitted together in such manner as to form standardized sealing edges.

In accordance with the present invention, I providea door frame and door for a hopper car each of which is cast in two parts. The.

two parts of each member are accurately positioned relative to each other by means of a template or other fixture and joined together by a riveted or other suitable joint. In this manner, an accurately fitting door frame and door may be readily constructed.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully appreciated as a better understanding of the invention is had upon studying the following detailed description of the one embodiment thereof that is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a view partly in elevation and partly in transverse section of a portion of a hopper car showing one door frame and door structure embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of a portion of a hopper car showing the door frame and door; v

Fig. 3 is a View in section of one side of the door fra-me and cooperating door taken on the plane represented by the line III-III in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in longitudinal sectiony taken on the plane represented by the line VII-VII in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a View in elevation of one half of the door frame taken separately;

Fig. 9 is a View in section of the frame half taken on the plane represented by the line IX-IX in Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a top view of the frame half as shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 11 is a view in elevation of the frame half complementary to that shown in Fig. 8;

Fig. 12 is a View in section of the frame half taken on a plane represented by the line XII-XII of F1g. 11;

Fig. 13 is a top view of the frame half shown in Fig. 11;

Fig. 14 is a view in vertical section of the frame half shown in Fig. 8 taken on the plane represented by the line XIV-XIV;

Fig. 15 is an end view of the frame half shown in Fig. 11 taken from the right end thereof;

h Ffig. 16 is a view in elevation of one door Fig. 17 is a similar view in elevation of the complementary door half;

Fig. 18 is a view in section of the door half shown in Fig. 16 taken on the plane represented by the line XVIII-XVIII;

Fig. 19 is a view in section of the door half shown in Fig. 17 taken on the plane represented by the line XIX-XIX; and

Fig. 20 is a View in transverse section of the door taken on the plane represented by the line XX-XX of Fig. 17

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a channel member 1 that constitutes part of the center sill of a railway car of the hopper type. Spaced from the center sill 1 and disposed parallel with it is a side sill 2 that may be an angle section and that is joined to the center sill 1 by suitable end sills and cross members (not shown) to constitute the framework of a standard car. Only one hopper, generally designated by reference numeral 3, is shown in the drawings but it will be readily understood that a similar hopper is disposed at the other side of the center sill 1 and that a plurality of such pairs of hoppers are utilized in hopper cars of this general construction.

As'shown in Figs. 1 and 2,the hopper 3 is formed by an outer' side sheet member 4 and an inner side sheet member 5 that are joined at their bottom edges to a floor sheet or bottom sheet 6. The inner side sheet 5 is disposed in a substantially vertical plane adjacent the center sill 1 and extends upwardly and over the center sill to constitute a part of the floor of the car. The outer side sheet 4 is connected at its top edge to a side plate 7 of the car body which is in turn secured by rivets 8 to the side sill member 2. From the side plate 7 the side sheet 4 slopes inwardly as it extends down to join the iioor sheet 6 in order to provide the necessary clearance space at the side of the hopper opposite its lower edge.

As best shown in Fig. 4, the upper forward edges of the side sheets 4 and are connected by a slope sheet 9 that extends upwardly into the car body and may be joined to a car diaphragm (not shown). It may be readily seen that the forward edges of the hopper side sheets 4 and 5, the bottom sheet 6 and the slope sheet 9 constitute a discharge opening for the car body that is disposed in a plane inclined vat about 30 to the vertical transverse plane of the car and having a substantially trapeziform shape.

As shown in the drawings the edges of the sheets which constitute the discharge opening are reinforcedby means of a frame, designated generally by the reference numeral 12, which conforms to the general shape of the opening. For closing the discharge opening a suitable door 13 is mounted in the frame 12 preferably by hinging its top edge to the top portion of the frame. The door 13 may be held in its closed position against the frame 12 by means of any suit-able latch or lock mechanism 14 and it may be connected to open and close simultaneously with the opening and closing of a similar door (not shown) on the hopper at the other side of the center sill 1 by means of a suitable spreader bar 15.

The door frame 12 comprises an upper cross portion or hinge butt member 2l that extends along the upper side of the discharge opening and is attached by means of rivets 22 to the lower surface of the slope sheet 9. As shown, the hinge butt member 21 comprises two pairs of hinge lugs 23 and 24 respectively that are formed integrally with the portion of the frame which is connected to the slope sheet 9. The frame 12 is provided with a bottom member 25 that is disposed beneath the bottom sheet 6 and connected to its lower edge by suitable rivets 26. The bottom member 25 is connected to the hinge butt member 21 by side members 27 and 28.

As shown in Fig. 11, the inner side member 28 is substantially vertical, and is connected by rivets 29 to the inner side sheet member 5 as best shown in Fig. 5. The outer side member 27 of the frame 12 slopes outwardly from the bottom member 25 to the hinge butt member 21 to conform to the slope of the outer side sheet member 4, and, as shown in Fig. 3, it is connected to the side sheet member 4 by rivets 30 in much the same manner that the bottom member 25 is connected to the floor sheet 6.

To enable a tight closure to be made between the frame 12 and the door 13, an outwardly extending marginal sealing flange 3l is provided on the bottom member 25 and on the side members 27 and 28 for accurately engaging the inner surface of the door 13. As shown in the drawings, the flange 31 has a comparatively narrow face which makes it possible to obtain a close fit withvtlle door 13.

The door member 13 comprises a substantially flat plate 35 that conforms generally in shape to the frame 12 and that is provided at its upper edge with hinge lugs 36 and 37 that are disposed between the pairs of hinge lugs 23 and 24 respectively, on the hinge butt member 21 of the door frame 12. Suitable hinge pins 38 are disposed through the aligned hinge lugs for the purpose of pivotally supporting the door 13 onthe frame 12.

vF rom each side of each of the hinge lugs 36 and 37 there extends downwardly a relnforcing rib 41 or 42 that is formed integrally with the door 13. The two ribs 41 and 42 at each lug are parallel with each other and extend for about one-quarter of the width of the door. To stiiien the fiat plate 35 and'to prevent it from warping, the door is provided with crossed diagonal reinforcing ribs 43 and 44 as shown.

The lower portion of the door 13 is rovided, on its inner or load-engaging ace, with a plurality of spaced vertical reinforcing webs 45. The webs 45 are parallel to the webs 41 and 42 and are disposed at the lower inner surface of the door to resist forces `imposed upon the door by the'load in the car. By using a plurality offclosely positioned webs 45 as'shown, large objects, such as lumps of coal, are carried on the tops of the webs instead of on the face ofthe door. This feature of construction relieves the `door from excessive forces during the loading operation as the large and heavy lumps of lading strike the reinforcing ribs 45 when they are dropped into the car, `instead of striking the plate 35 directly. Further, by disposing the webs 45 on kthe inner surface of the door 13 that the door 13 is `provided with an in' wardly extending marginal iange 51 -that overlaps and loosely engages the. marginal flange 31 on the doorframe 12. Just within the marginal flange 51 there is provided a flat sealing surface 52 extending along the bottom and sides of the door for engaging the face or sealing edge cf the flange 31 onv the frame 12. A j

In the prior art, doors and door frames have been made by forming each as an integral casting; However, much ditlicultyhas been encountered in making doors and frames that are each cast in one piece for the reason that when' the castings cool they have a tendencv to warp in such manner that the sealing castings made from the same pattern may be quite different in over-all dimension. The amount of shrinkage that takes place 'in a large casting is dependent upon the temperature of the molten metal when poured and upon the time of taking the metal from the furnace. Consequently it is apparent that if the door frames and doors are each castV in one piec'e the diii'erence in shrinkage which occurs between the various castings will causev the sealingsurfaces .to be positioned 'inaccurately In. order to overcome this diiiiculty I have, in accordance with this invention, made the door frame 12 and the door 13 each in two parts which may be joined in such manner that differences in shrinkage may be compensated for and the sealingsurfaces accurately positioned.

As shown in Figs. 8 and 11, the door fram 12 is made up of two castings ,54 and 55 that I constitute the left and right halvesof the frame respectively. The two half frames 54 and 55 are adapted to be joined along the vertical center line of`the hopper. As bestshown in Figs. 9 'and 12,the adjacent ends of the lower portions 25 of the frame halves' 54 and 55 are provided with rivet holes 56. To connect the two frame halves together, a splice bar 57 is placed beneath the bottom member 25 of the frame as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and joined to each of the frame halves by means of rivets 58 that pass through the -splice bar 57 vand the holes 56 in the half frames 54 andv 55.

In making a frame 12 in accordance with my invention, the two half frames 54 and 55 after being cast are placed on a master fixture or templet in Asuch manner.` that' the sealing anges31 accuratelyengage a surface representing the sealing surface on an accurately made door. After the half frames 54 and 55 are thus positioned relative to each other, the

splice bar l57 is laced in position and the holes 56 are punc ed or drilled through the frame halves andthe splice bar. The rivets 58 may then be inserted to rigidly connect the half frames together inl such manner that the sealing flange 31 on the resulting frame 12 will present an accurate sealing face.

f Likewise, the door 13 is formed of two half doors 61 and 62 that constitute the left and right halves respectively ofthe complete door. As shown in Figs. 16 and 18, the left half door 61 is provided at its right edge with anoi'lset longitudinally extending portion 63. As shown inI Fi s. 17 and 19, the right half door 62 has a p ane edge disposed adjacent to the offset portion 63 of the half door 61' and adapted to be overlapped by it when the half doors are joined.

It will be noted that each of the half doors 61 and 62 is provided near the center of its upper edge with a hinge lug, which lugs have been previously designated by the reference numerals 36 and 37, respectively. From the hinge lugs 36 and 37 the pairs of reinforcing ribs 41 and 42 extend downwardly for about one-fourth of the width of the half doors 61 and 62. As best shown in Figs. 16 and 17 diagonal reinforcing ribs 43 and 44 reinforce each half door 61 and 62 independently.

The diagonal ribs 43 and 44 cross each other at substantially the center of each door half 61 and 62 and extend from the center towards the four corners to effectively prevent twisting or-warping of the door halves in any direction.

As in the case of the frame 12, the door 13 is assembled by placing the separate door halves 61 and 62 on a fixture or templet having a flange that represents the sealing flange on the frame 12. After the door halves 61 and 62 have been placed in their proper relative ositions on the fixture, rivet holes 64 may be punched or drilled through the offset portion 63 of the half door 61 and through the edge of the half door 62. Rivets 65 may then be placed through the holes 64, as shown in Fig. 1,-'to rigidly secure the half doors 61 and 62 together in such manner that the completed structure constitutes a rigid unitary door member.

After the door frame 12 and the door 13 have been made, the two may be placed together in their normal working relationship and holes drilled through the pairs of lugs 23 and 24 on the frame 12 and through the cooperating lugs 36 and 37 on the door 13 in accurate alignment for receiving the hinge pins 38. When assembled in this manner the door frame and door constitute an accurately fitted closure member that may be handled as a complete unit and applied to the lioppers of new hopper cars or to old cars in replacement of worn out frames and doors. After the complete closure unit has been applied to a hopper car, the Z or spreader bar which is ordinarily connected to the door 13, as shown in Fig. 1, serves to strengthen the door structure and to securely join the door halves 61 and 62. Likewise, the frame 12 is somewhat strengthened by the hopper plates to which it is attached. After the door has been applied to the hopper of a car, any suitable latch mechanism, such as represented by the latch 14, may be applied for holding the door closed. l

In the event that the door or frame is damaged in some manner in service, as for instance if the outer edge of the hopper is struck by some.V article which has been placed too' close to the track upon which the car is operated, it is usually not necessary to replace-the entire door or frame. Ordinarily only a small portion of the door or frame is damaged in the event of anaccident, and the repair may be effected by removing the damaged half door or half frame and replacing it by a new member. In this manner the expense of making repairs is reduced to about one-half of the cost of replacing the entire door or door frame.

Although I have shown andl described only one embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to others skilled in the art to which this inventionl relates that various modifications may be made in the general sha e of and inthe details of the door and door rame without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as 'defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a hopper car door structure, in combination, a door frame comprising two integral castings joined to constitute connected top, side and bottom members, and a door for cooperating with the frame comprising two ginal flanges for attaching the frame to thel hopper of a car, and a cooperating door comprising two half doors joined in overlapping relation along the vertical central line and hinged to the door frame.

4. In a door structure for hopper cars, in combination, a door frame comprisin two cast half frames joined to constitute ainge bult member, bottom member, and side members, and a door comprising two cast half doors joined to constitute a unitary member hinged on said hingebutt member for cooperating with the door frame.

5. In a hopper car, in combination, a door frame comprising two cast half frames joined along a vertical central line to constitute a unitary frame structure for attaching t0 the hopper car, and a door for cooperating with the frame comprising two cast half doors joined along substantially the line of jointure of the frame and hinged thereto, said half frames and half doors being joined in such manner as to cooperate accurately to provide a tight closure.v

6. A door for a hopper car comprising a casthalf door having a substantially rectangular load-engaging surface, a hinge lug formedintegrally at the center of one edge of the half door, a second half door having a trapeziform load-engaging surface, a hinge lug similarly disposed thereon, said second half door having an offset edge disposed to overlap one` edge of the first-mentioned half door, and means for securing the two half doors together to constitute a unitary door structure.

7. A cast door for hopper cars comprising -a load-engaging face of trapeziform shape, a flange extending upwardly fromvthe loadengaging face along the edges thereof, two hinge lugs disposed in spaced relation on the top edge of the door, reinforcing ribs extending from the hinge lugs along the back of the door for substantially one-quarter of its width, and reinforcing ribs in parallel alignment therewith and on the face of the door extending the lower one-quarter of its width, to protect the face and to provide room on the back for attaching a spreader bar.

8. A door for hopper cars comprising a cast metal member o rectangular shape having a load-engaging face, a flange extending upwardly along three edges of the load-en.- gaging face, a hinge lug formed at the center of one .edge thereof, reinforcing ribs on the side opposite the load-engaging face, a second cast metal member of trapeziform shape having a load-engaging face, a flange extending upwardly along three edges ofthe load-engaging face, an offset portion extending longitudinally from the fourth edge thereof and overlapping the plain .edge of the rectangular member, a hinge lug at the center of one edge, reinforcing ribs on the side opposite the load-engaging face, and rivets extending through the overlapping portions to secure ghe members together to constitute a unitary oor.

9. A door for a hopper car comprising two cast half doors each having a hinge lug and .reinforcing ribs, and means for' joining the half doors along a seam midway between the hinge lugs.

10..The method of making a door for a hopper car that includes the steps of casting two half doors, fitting the half doors in overlapping relation on a master template, punching holes through the overlapping portions 13. The method of making a door frame for hopper cars thatcomprises the steps of Vcasting two complementary half frames, fit- In testimon whereof, I sign my name.

E WARD `HILL HOLMES.

of the doors when so fitted, and securing the half doors together by inserting rivets in said holes.

1l. The method of forming doors for dump cars that comprises the steps of casting the door in two parts, fitting the parts to a master frame to properly position the sealing edges thereof, and securing the parts together to constitute a unitary structure.

12. The method of making cast doors that comprises casting two complementary half doors, fitting the half doors to a master frame to position their sealing edges, and securing the half doors together when so positioned to 65 constitute an accurate unitary structure.

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